Ethnic Identity and Urban Fabric

The Case of the Greeks at Empúries, Spain

Authors

  • Alan Kaiser formerly Boston University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v13i2.189

Keywords:

Empúries, Greeks

Abstract

Between 200 and 150 BC, several major construction projects significantly altered the appearance of the Greek sector of the site of Empúries in the Catalonian region of Spain. These changes have been interpreted as a sign of the growing prosperity of Greeks at the site after the Roman conquest of the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The author challenges this view, citing evidence that the Greek residents of the city did not prosper from the Roman invasion but, instead, lost political and economic status in the region. As an alternative explanation, it is argued that the alterations to the urban fabric witnessed in the first half of the second century bc were a conscious assertion of ethnic identity and that the Greeks at the site were attempting to create a strong group identity, symbolized by specific types of architecture, to help them negotiate their changing roles in the northeastern Iberian peninsula.

Author Biography

  • Alan Kaiser, formerly Boston University
    Alan Kaiser received his PhD from Boston University in 1999. He has a forthcoming publication, based on his dissertation research, examining the use of space at the site of Empuries. His research interests include classical urbanism and GIS applications in archaeology.

Published

2001-03-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Kaiser, A. (2001). Ethnic Identity and Urban Fabric: The Case of the Greeks at Empúries, Spain. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 13(2), 189-203. https://doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v13i2.189